As the year draws to a close, we take the opportunity to look back on an exciting twelve months and forward to the challenges and opportunities that a new year holds. The School of Rehabilitation Therapy celebrated many successes in 2014: we welcomed new faculty and students, advanced research agendas, took on several exciting initiatives, and developed new communication platforms to bring the School closer to its many engaged stakeholders.
2014 started off by welcoming new occupational therapy tenure-track faculty member, Dr. Setareh Ghahari. At mid-year, we welcomed Dr. Heather Aldersey, who was appointed as the Queen’s National Scholar in International Community Based Rehabilitation.
Over the course of the year, faculty members obtained a 12 new research grants with a total value of $575,735. Major funding sources included CIHR, National MS Society, Physiotherapy Foundation of Canada, and Associated Medical Services Phoenix Project. Our doctoral students also experienced success with funding, with several of them obtaining significant awards and scholarships to support their dissertation work.
During the summer the School held its inaugural Functional Anatomy Boot-Camp, which was designed to help prepare incoming students for entry into the fall’s academic programs and to act as a refresher for practicing clinicians. The hands on, two-day event was a fantastic success, bringing in students from several different universities and programs, as well as clinicians from several disciplines.
In September, we warmly welcomed 73 Occupational Therapy students, 72 Physical Therapy students, and 6 Rehabilitation Science students – 4 PhD students and 2 MSc students. We wish all of these students the very best throughout their academic journeys.
As part of the University’s Homecoming celebrations in October, the School hosted its 2nd Annual Homecoming Brunch. The event included the presentation of the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The three winners, one from each of our programs; Sandra Hobson, BSc (OT) ‘76; Barbara Purdie, BSc (PT) ‘79; and Catherine Lysack, MSc (Rehabilitation Science) ‘92, are all outstanding individuals who have demonstrated leadership both in their professional and personal lives.
We are ending our year with a recently-launched, updated website, a new Facebook page and a Twitter account. I welcome you to use these communication platforms to learn about the exciting things we are up to, how you can become involved in our initiatives and of course, to keep in touch with the School.
Building on the successes of the past year, we are looking forward to 2015 as we continue in our efforts to advance knowledge, inspire practice and transform lives.
I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!
Dr. Marcia Finlayson